...8.24...Tuesdays with Julia...

...I was talking to Mom on the phone as I was finishing up this recipe...and she said it sounded pretty horrible...so I sent her a phone photo...and she said it looked pretty good...haha...

...we made the VEGAN OIE RÔTIE AUX PRUNEAUX and served it with boiled red potatoes and zucchini and onions with parmesan...we used to make the zucchini side a lot...it's delicious...

...and the vegan liver and prune stuffed goose was a LOT better than I was expecting...not sure I'd go to the trouble of making it again...but it was good...

...and all of the particulars are over at The Vegan Version...

~Have a lovely day!

...8.23...It's all about the Bike...

...I'm going to do a whole series of posts about my Mountain Bike conversion to more of a Touring/Commuter/Cruiser Bike...

...y'all have already seen a little bit of it here - where I changed out the handlebars...here - with the colourful knit seat cover...and here - with the more cushy seat...

...and then you saw all of the bike related things I got for my birthday...and the fenders arrived a few days later...

...anywhoo...the reason for the change is that I don't really ride my bike in the mountains anymore...or even on trails all that much...and the ones I do ride on are usually paved or 'maintained' like State Park trails and such...

I really like the Dutch Omafiets (Granny Bike)...I'm a granny after all...haha...but they're really hard to find...and expensive...and I have a perfectly good bicycle already...so my frugal self is not going to buy an Omafiets...

...so my plan is to 'convert' my Mountain Bike to a Granny Bike...as much as possible...

...I'll start with the new seat cover...as that will definitely be the easiest thing that I have to do...

...this is what it looked like when I opened it on my Birthday...

...so I got started by removing my colourful knit cover...and I decided to just leave the green foam that I had added in place...because more padding is always better...right?...

...ta daaa...that was really easy...and it fits perfectly...

...it was just a matter of tying the straps under the tongue...and pulling the drawstring at the back...

...and then I washed the cover...and put it back on...

...so happy that it still fits...good thing I made it a little bit too big...haha...I was worried about it when I made it...but now I'm glad...the seat will sit a little bit higher now...maybe 1/2 an inch...so I'll have to adjust it on the bike to be the right height...

...still to come...fenders...and my favorite...the basket...

...8.21...Dinner and a Movie...

...I wanted to use up some flour tortillas that were getting a little bit on the dry and crumbly side of things...so we made triple decker quesadillas...first layer was Violife mozzarella...

...then the middle torilla and some black beans from the freezer...

...and then the top layer...

...it held together pretty well and as the torillas cooked they softened up a little bit too...

...when it was nice and crispy I flipped it over...

...and sliced it into quarters when it was done...the vegan cheese was nice and melty...

...and served with some spinach and salsa...and cucumber...it was yummy...

...and the movie was the Man's choice this time...and it was another one of the Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon films...The Trip to Spain...it was good...they're all a bit the same...with a little bit of flippancy, a little bit of sarcasm...a little bit of snobbery...and a little bit of poignancy...

...what have you been watching lately?...

~Have a lovely weekend!

...8.20...Friday Favorites...

...I thought I'd share three of my 'indispensable' kitchen tools today...my old Emmie food processor...a gift from my big brother and SIL one of the first years of our marriage...so it's probably my oldest kitchen item that I still use all the time...other appliances have been replaced but not my Emmie...

...and my 'epoxy fix' from a few months ago is holding up well...

...and this stick blender...was a gift from my family's Crazy Santa Christmas Party way back in 2014...(that baby I'm holding was the niece who came to visit a couple of weeks ago)...

...if I'm making a smoothie just for me I use this instead of the Vitamix...

...and third...my Foreman Grill...y'all see this baby all the time here...

...it's perfect for 'grilling' all kinds of veggies...it gives you just the right amount of caramelization...I don't know how I managed before I got it...

...what are your favorite kitchen tools?...

~Have a lovely day!

...8.19...What I Ate in a Day...as a Vegan...

...I started the day with some toasted French bread and some fresh blackberry jam...it was so delicious...I ate almost half the jar of jam...shameless...

...and of course that wasn't a lot of breakfast...so I had an apple and some tea mid-morning...

...and what do you think I had for lunch...

...nothing but corn...oink...haha..

...afternoon snack was some watermelon...store bought...and definitely not the best watermelon I've ever had...but it was ok...

...and then a feast of veggies for dinner...more corn...of course...that little jar has about a 1/4 cup of beans...you know I can't throw anything away...haha...rice, tofu, Foreman grilled broccoli, sweet potato, carrots and Brussels sprouts...and a couple of spoonfuls of homemade sauerkraut (how we make it here)...it was all delicious...and I was so stuffed...

...what did you eat yesterday?...

~Have a lovely day!

...8.18...W.I.P. Wednesday...

...I finished the pink Yoga Sweater...and extended the ties on each side by 20 stitches...I had left off 15 stitches when I cast on...so they are just a little bit longer than the pattern...and one other thing that's kind of odd...is that when you put it on and pull the ties around to the back...the side seams don't stay exactly at your side...they get pulled slightly to the front...

...but...I love it...it turned out super cute...I even wore it to Church Sunday over a pink dress...and I asked the Man to snap a photo...for the blog...which he thinks is funny...

...so then when I got home and changed into what we'll call 'loungewear'...haha...I asked him to snap another photo...which he really thought was funny...haha...

...but he did...so this is the way I'll normally wear the yoga sweater...and so far the tie in the back doesn't bother me at all...and I love the way the sweater hugs you up...it's very cozy...

...what's in your workbasket?...

~Have a lovely day!

...8.17...Tuesdays with Julia...

...we made the half and half soufflé with coffee and vanilla halves...Vegan Soufflé Panaché...Julia says you can use any combination but chocolate...I'll probably try the chocolate one next...

...all of the particulars are over at The Vegan Version...

~Have a lovely day!

...8.16...Over the Weekend...

...just a normal weekend...with all the normal things...oh...and we did change out the ring at the base of one of the toilets...no photos of that...you're welcome...haha...

...I did a fairly normal shop as well...the tofu was buy one get one free for some reason...so I took advantage of that...and the vegan graham crackers are a new find for me...

...I usually get the Nabisco red box ones...but they are almost $5 a box...these ones were like $1.19...and they are accidentally vegan...and I got them and the vanilla pudding boxes to make that pudding type cheesecake dessert...like the Man's Mom used to make...

...so I gathered the ingredients for that...I'm using silken tofu for the milk...

...pulverized the graham crackers and pressed into a dish...

...the pudding mixture is just the the box of vanilla pudding and the entire container of silken tofu...2 teaspoons of AC vinegar and 1 teaspoon of lemon juice...1/2 teaspoon vanilla...and enough Silk to make the right consistency...just a couple of Tablespoons...

...and poured that over the crumb crust...

...that looks perfect...

...and then one of our parishoners called to ask if we 'could use' some corn...well..definitely!...he brought over 5 dozen ears of corn...half white and half yellow...and already shucked!!!...

...the Man got out his super sharp knife...the one he uses to chop cabbage for sauerkraut...and I did the silking duty...

...which made me think of the Man's Dad...I can remember while we were just dating standing at the kitchen sink silking corn with him...while his Mom fizzed around the kitchen behind us preparing the rest of the meal...but we stood there with our backs to the hubbub...focused and careful...and he was definitely a perfectionist in all things...but especially so in silking corn...haha...my upbringing (in regards to corn-silking) had been a little bit different...you know one of Nanny's sayings was "the one that eats the most corn gets the most silks"

...the corn was absolutely beautiful...most of it went into a pot to be frozen...but we kept out several perfect ears to eat this week...

...we froze 10 pints of corn which we'll really enjoy this winter...

~Wishing you a lovely start to your week!

...8.14...Dinner and a Movie...

...y'all know that we live out in the country...and although you can't really see any other houses from ours...we do have neighbors...quite close by...within a 1/4 of a mile...

...and while I was riding my bike...our very closest neighbor walked out to the end of his driveway to meet me...and asked if we'd like some of their surplus garden veg...what do you think I said...YES!...so when I got back from my ride...they walked over with these two trays of delicious veggies...and so we stood around outside for a little socially distanced visit...catching up with our neighbors...definitely one of the downsides of this pandemic is losing touch with our neighbors...

...so seeing all of those little tomatoes...(tommie-toes Nanny used to call them)...I decided to make a stove-top version of the Baked Ricotta Tik-Tok recipe...

...and I sauteed some fresh green beans to go with it...

...it was just as delicious as the baked version...and we didn't have to heat up the kitchen...it was 96° F (35° C) outside...

...and the movie was Kelly and Cal...my choice and it was not a good one...I don't really know what to say about this movie...I had 'chosen' it from the trailer (natch) when it appeared in our Netflix queue (by whatever algorithm that happens)...and it starts out good...you get to know the characters...the main character is a new Mom...who meets her handicapped neighbor across the fence...and it really is just a movie about some people...which in general is right up my alley...there's just a lot going on in this movie...psychologically, emotionally, socially...and the 's' word-ually...and it's one of those movies that has you thinking...as the main character continues to make 'choices'...oh...no...don't do that...

...and so that's the way the discussion went...much like after we watched Unforgotten...and saw how the split second choice that those four friends made...affected their lives forever...this movie has that same sort of element...

...maybe because of the Man's 'line of work' we're more attuned to that...as in general pastor's families make delineated choices multiple times in their lives...and so you always have that 'thought' of well...I wonder how things would have turned out if we'd taken that call in Ohio...or if we hadn't taken the one in North Dakota...and of course you never know...

...well that was 'deep'...haha...

~Have a lovely weekend!

...8.13...Friday Favorites...Butternut Squash...

...y'all know that we don't really have any place for a garden here...and no need really as so many good people gift us from their garden bounty...but...like I did last year...I planted a couple of butternut squash seeds beside the A/C unit...it's a good sunny (enough) spot...and the vines can trail all along the edge of the house and not be in the outdoor sexton's way when he mows...

...and we now have this little beauty growing on the vine...

...and about three other little baby ones...so I'm looking forward to harvesting those later this fall...

~Have a lovely day!